Astros vs. Rockies prediction and odds for Tuesday, July 18 (Value on total)
By Reed Wallach
The Houston Astros start a series out west in the hitter friendly ballpark of Coors Field.
Even without star slugger Yordan Alvarez, the Astros offense has been dynamite at the plate. Houston is near the top of the big league leaderboard of late in hitting, and will look to outclass a Colorado Rockies team that is counting on a poor bullpen to navigate a game.
The Rockies will start Matt Koch on Tuesday, his first start of the year and ninth appearance of the season. After possibly just one pass through the order, can the Rockies relievers keep it together?
Here are the odds and our best bet for Astros vs. Rockies:
Astros vs. Rockies odds, run line and total
Astros vs. Rockies prediction and pick
The Astros are going to have a big night on offense given the hitting conditions and the state of the Rockies pitching staff.
Colorado will start Koch in this one, who has put up strong numbers in a relief role this season, pitching more than nine scoreless innings across eight appearances, but hasn't pitched more than two innings this season.
He will face an Astros lineup that is sixth in OPS and fifth in home runs over the last 30 days, per MLB.com. While Koch may get two innings, the rest of the Rockies bullpen must piece together the next seven, which is a big concern considering the team has the fourth highest bullpen ERA this season.
Houston will start J.P. France, who has strong metrics, but could be in for a tough go at Coors Field. He has a 3.31 ERA, but his xERA is more than a run higher at 4.33. He has a 12% home run to fly ball rate and is only striking out six batters per nine innings in 12 big league starts. With the hitter friendly conditions, the lack of strikeouts can make France vulnerable to getting knocked around.
With both pitching staffs on notice, I'll trust both offenses to get going and bet over on Tuesday night.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.